(LOS ANGELES) — Oklahoma's top education official on Thursday ordered the southern state's public schools to teach the Bible, a controversial decision that could fuel the culture wars tearing America apart.
“Every teacher, in every classroom in the state, will have to have a Bible in the classroom and teach from the Bible,” Ryan Walters explained during a press conference, announcing the publication of a memorandum they must all adhere to. Directorates of Education.
“The Bible is a historical document that is essential to teaching our children the history of this country, so they have a full understanding of Western civilization, and so they understand the foundations of our legal system,” the Republican-elect said.
His decision comes just one week after Louisiana's governor, also a Republican, signed a law that plans to display the “Ten Commandments” in all classrooms.
The law was immediately challenged in court by an association that believes it is unconstitutional and violates the separation of church and state. The measure announced in Oklahoma also has a good chance of ending up in court.
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the establishment of a national religion or the preference of one religion over another.
But in recent years, the Trump right has increased its identity-based rhetoric with the goal of returning Christian values to the center of public debate.
Last week, Walters welcomed the Louisiana law, saying he wanted to emulate it.
“We have to put God back in school and not allow the radical left to turn our schools into atheist centers that talk about our country without considering the influence of faith,” he insisted on Fox News.
A speech that was immediately welcomed by Donald Trump himself, who is counting on the support of evangelical Christians to try to retake the White House against Joe Biden in November.
“Oklahoma State Comptroller Ryan Walters did a great job on Fox News last night. He’s strong, decisive, and knows his stuff. I love Oklahoma!” the former Republican president applauded on his social network, “The Truth.”
Oklahoma, a member of the Bible Belt in the southern United States, recently tried to fund a private religious school with public money, which would have been the first of its kind in the United States.
The project was rejected this week by local courts, but the case could reach the Supreme Court.
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